Real hard to tell without seeing it.
I would try and install an insert from the current position if possible. If removing the head is the answer, I might do it at my leisure. The bolts in question only seal the timing cover from oil leakage. It is conceivable it won't leak and if it does the head doesn't get any harder to do with time. A new gasket should be used. This is all based on it being your problem and your decision. Selling it in such a condition would be fraud in my eyes, so it always is something that will be there, until it is fixed.
__________________
Steve Brotherton
Continental Imports
Gainesville FL
Bosch Master, ASE Master, L1
33 years MB technician
|